Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Cosmos"

Well, it seems likely in tandem with the fact that they appear to be meat-eaters (I assume).

I don't care for this level of speculation presented as absolute fact. Evolution is obvious if you accept the evidence. This is still in the realm of a best guess.

The evolution of the eye mostly made sense though. I just don't like the bit where he sort of skipped over everything after we left the water.

That's because land eyes never got as good as underwater eyes.

edited 22nd Mar '14 2:46:57 PM by DS9guy

I'm kind of interested in what sort of changes would have to be made, and if other species have done better, but that's beyond the scope of the program.

that's beyond the scope of the program

I just said that. Am I missing a joke?

Yes. I potholed the word "program" to Cosmos. Because it's name is Cosmos. See the problem with saying something is outside its scope?

Okay, it's outside the depth of the program.

So we agree that it's a short and shallow program, given the scope of the subject?

Yes. Unavoidable.

Would it have been a better program if it had focused solely on man's history of understanding of the scope of the cosmos with just a minor mention of Earth?

That's what I would find interesting, but it's meant more as a sampler platter of science meant to provide a taste of a lot of different topics meant to provoke wonder and a desire to dig deeper.

His ham-handed attempt to make me want to visit Titan "again" worked!

We need to be working on submersible rovers and putting them on Titan.

Missed the first half and began on the segment that talked about Newton's life.

The dandelion seed or guitar pick versions of Cosmos ships?

Personally you ain't getting me on Tyson's ship of the imagination without Petty's "sweet little queen, who can't run away", because so far science has been a total sausage fest.

I like the design of the guitar pick version, but I prefer the amount of screentime the dandelion seed one got, and Sagan's style of flying in it.

It's gotten less so since the first episode, but the difference between Sagan and Tyson's hosting styles can be summed up in the way they fly their imaginary ships. Sagan is going on a journey of wonder and discovery and we're along for the ride, while Tyson looks intensely out the window at things he's seen a thousand times already because he's taking us on a tour.

I'm surprised at how much the new Imagination is being used, since I thought I saw a snippet of an interview where Tyson said something like "we're discussing alternatives, since there were complaints about the overuse of the ship metaphor in the first one".

I like the way the interior of the ship gets used as a stage for delivering narrative, though. When Tyson's just walking around in the middle of the room and maybe there's a hologram of the thing he's talking about.

The ceiling and floor time portals make me uneasy, though. We look at the past a lot more often than the future, and every time the floor opens up (and whenever he stands on it when it's closed), I worry about falling though. No OSHA Compliance.

Anybody else note how ill-read Tyson is on the work of our latest Newton, whose name shall not be mentioned in this show?

I guess being a half-dead white man isn't quite good enough.

edited 31st Mar '14 5:49:22 AM by hcobb

Hawking?

I think this is the falling out.

http://voices.yahoo.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-disagrees-stephen-hawkings-5920968.html

To be fair, if alien life is anything like us maybe being cautious isn't such a bad idea.

Seriously though, it seems that no matter what the frontier, the opposing "be cautious, they might be dangerous" and "be adventurous, they might be inviting" ideologies will always accompany discoveries of new life.

How about "be polite and friendly, and bring a big stick"?

He who travels has the bigger walking stick.

It really depends on the circumstances of contact, if that ever happens, as well as our relative levels of evolution. Two million years is a short time geologically, but life an accomplish a whole lot in that period. Two million years ago our ancestors were just learning to walk upright. What about an alien species that evolved to human levels of intelligence when homo habilis was still around? What would they be like now? Would they regard homo sapiens as just a species of ape not even worth talking to?

edited 1st Apr '14 11:53:48 AM by Lawyerdude

Read Three Worlds Collide, and be amused.

edited 1st Apr '14 12:06:33 PM by TheHandle